Drew Lemaster (43) looks for running room against the Person defense Friday.Special to The Herald-Sun | Will Okun

Dontavian Smith turns (16) turns the corner against the Orange defense.Special to The Herald-Sun | Will Okun

The Orange Panthers take the field before Friday's season-opening win at Roxboro Person.Special to The Herald-Sun | Will Okun

ROXBORO —

What a difference a Tay makes.

Orange’s wing-T formation just wasn’t what it has been with running back Tay Jones on the sideline in street clothes on Friday. He was sitting out due to academic issues, Orange coach Pat Moser said.

The visiting Panthers of the Big Eight 3-A Conference beat Roxboro Person 27-14. The final score projected a rather convincing Orange win. But the Panthers did not look like the dominant squad Orange coach Pat Moser fielded a year ago, when they played in the state 3-AA semifinals.

“We really didn’t look dominant, did we? No,” Moser said.

It’s not about the Panthers working out the kinks or shaking off the rust or any of that stuff, Moser said.

“It’s early. The rust should be the same for everybody,” Moser said.

Person, a PAC-6 4-A member, got a break in the first quarter when Orange punter Austin Wood nailed a nice one that would have pinned the Rockets deep in their own territory if a ref hadn’t flagged a Panther.

Wood kicked a dud on the redo that allowed Person to take over on its 40.

On the very next play, Person junior quarterback Antonio Williams hooked up with Tayshawn Outlaw for a 60-yard touchdown pass.

Kleine was referring to Tré Tapp, who transferred to Northern and is listed as a cornerback on the Knights’ roster. But Kleine said Tapp would have been his signal caller.

“He’s a 2,000-yard all-purpose quarterback, 23 touchdowns last year,” Kleine said. “I just replaced him with a kid who just played in his first varsity game, threw two touchdowns.”

In fact, 17 other Rockets made their varsity debuts against Orange, Kleine said. They’re a bunch of sophomores and juniors who still are figuring out some things, he said.

“We left 21 points out on the board,” Kleine said. “Truth be told, we shore up some communication issues and it really might be a different outcome.

“They beat us in the end, but Orange thought that that was a different team that they were going to play tonight.”

These clearly were not last year’s Rockets.

“We’re trying to change the culture,” Kleine said.

The Panthers, on the other hand, need to get back to playing Orange football, Moser said.

“We’ve got work to do. That’s all there is to it,” Moser said. “We lost some seniors off our team last year that were good players, and we’ve got to replace them, and we’ve got to replace them quick. Some kids have got to grow up. Some younger kids have got to play harder and grow up now, or it’s not going to be easy for us. We’ve got a long way to go.

“We sputtered on offense early. I think maybe we were trying to throw too much early. We’ve got to get back to (our) running game and then pass off of the run if we’re going to be a good team.”

Orange running back Drew Lemaster ran hard for at least 100 yards. But he’s no Jones, Orange’s leading rusher last season.

Moser said Jones would be eligible to play this Friday.

The Panthers appear to have a fine punter in Wood. He banged some beauties.